Greater Manchester’s metro mayor is proposing the most aggressive local energy intervention since the 1940s. Andy Burnham wants to create a municipally owned energy company that buys wholesale electricity and sells it directly to homes in the region, cutting out the Big Six suppliers and the network charges that add £120 a year to the average bill.
As reported by The Guardian, the plan is still in early stages but could reshape how energy is priced and distributed in one of the UK’s largest city regions.
Who qualifies, and who doesn’t
The proposal targets the 1.2 million households in Greater Manchester. If approved, every home on a standard variable tariff could opt into the new municipal supplier. But the savings are not guaranteed for everyone. The £150–£200 figure assumes a typical 3-bed semi using 12,000 kWh of gas and 3,100 kWh of electricity per year, the UK average. Homes with electric heating or older boilers would see larger savings because network charges make up a bigger share of their bills.
The catch is timing. Burnham’s team has not yet submitted a formal proposal to Ofgem. Officials say the earliest launch would be 2027, and even then, the plan requires changes to how national grid costs are allocated to local suppliers, a process that could take years of consultation.
What it costs a typical 3-bed semi
Under the current system, the average household pays about £1,800 a year for energy, of which roughly £300 goes to network charges, the cost of maintaining the national grid. Burnham’s plan would bypass about half of those charges by sourcing power from local solar farms and wind turbines, and by using a local distribution network rather than the national one.
For a typical semi-detached home in Manchester, that could mean a saving of £150–£200 a year, or about 10–12% off the total bill. But the savings depend on how much local renewable generation is built. The plan assumes 500 MW of new solar and onshore wind capacity in the region by 2030, roughly enough to power 150,000 homes. Without that, the municipal company would still have to buy from the national grid, limiting the savings to about £50 a year.
Energy Saving Trust data shows that the average home in the North West currently pays slightly above the national average due to higher network charges in the region. So the savings could be larger than the headline figure suggests, perhaps £180–£250 for homes with electric heating or poor insulation.
The EPC impact, and the hidden catch
Burnham’s plan aims to cut bills and improve home energy efficiency. The municipal company would offer free or subsidised insulation, heat pumps, and smart meters, funded by savings from lower network charges.
For a home with an EPC rating of D or below, which covers about 60% of Greater Manchester’s housing stock, that could mean a two-band improvement over five years. That would lift the property value by roughly 5–8%, according to Nationwide data, and cut heating costs by a further £200–£300 a year.
Yet the plan has a blind spot. It assumes that all homes can be retrofitted at the same pace, but the UK is already short of 50,000 trained heat pump installers. Without a parallel skills programme, the insulation and heat pump rollout could stall, leaving many homes on standard gas boilers and missing the full savings.
What this means for the rest of the UK
If Greater Manchester succeeds, other metro mayors, in Liverpool, West Yorkshire, and the West Midlands, have already signalled interest in similar schemes. But the model is not easily replicable in rural areas or smaller towns, where local renewable generation is harder to scale and network charges are lower.
Ofgem has not commented publicly on the plan, but sources close to the regulator say it is open to pilot schemes that test local energy markets. The real test will be whether the municipal company can secure wholesale electricity at a price that undercuts the national average, and whether it can pass those savings on to households without a subsidy from council tax.
For now, the message for homeowners outside Greater Manchester is simple: watch this space. If Burnham’s model works, it could force a wider reform of how energy is priced in the UK. If it fails, it will be another reminder that local energy markets are easier to propose than to deliver.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not directly. The plan only applies to homes in the Greater Manchester region. However, if it s쳮ds, it could pressure the government and Ofgem to reform the national energy market, which might lead to lower bills for other regions in the long term.
The earliest launch date is 2027, subject to Ofgem approval and the construction of local renewable generation. No switching is possible before then. Check back with Axiom Eco Homes for updates as the proposal develops.
